SimplexHealth Suite 12-in-1 review
Water Suite 12-in-1 Well & Ground Water (UKAS Laboratory Test)
By Tom Calder
Key specs
The maker's figures.
- What it tests
- 12 parameters: arsenic, chloride
- Format
- Postal sample kit
- Tests included
- Private supplies: wells, boreholes
- Results in
- 10-12 working days from the lab receiving
This is a proper laboratory analysis rather than a dip-strip — the bacteria/E.coli element is UKAS-accredited, while the wider 11-parameter chemistry panel is tested by the same UK lab but sits outside that accredited scope — and it's aimed squarely at the case where testing actually matters: private supplies, which are the owner's own responsibility under the Private Water Supplies Regulations. With a 10-12 working day turnaround it's a considered purchase, and worth noting it doesn't include a lead parameter, so it isn't the right kit if ageing pre-1970 pipework is your specific concern.
- Best for
- Households on a private well, borehole or spring who need a genuine lab-tested safety check, not a mains-water top-up
- Skip it if
- You're on the mains supply
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Researched, not used. We haven't used this product. This review is built from the maker's specifications, owner reports and our own sizing.
What we like
- UKAS-accredited bacteria/E.coli analysis, with the wider chemistry panel tested by the same UK lab — not an indicative home strip
- Covers 12 parameters relevant to well, borehole and spring water in one submission
- Includes coliform/E.coli bacteria testing alongside chemical parameters
Worth knowing
- No lead parameter — irrelevant here if that's your reason for testing
- A non-trivial outlay and a slow 10-12 working day wait, next to a same-day strip
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Our review
A postal laboratory panel built for a well, borehole or spring: twelve readings from one bottle, covering bacteria, nitrate, arsenic, mercury and the minerals behind taste and scale. The detail that decides it is the parameter list. Lead is not on it, so this suits an owner screening a rural supply for the first time, not a household worried about old plumbing.
What the twelve readings are
One bottle goes to a UK laboratory and comes back as twelve figures: coliform and E. coli bacteria, nitrate, arsenic, mercury, fluoride, iron, manganese, chloride, sulphate, hardness, magnesium and pH, in mg/l, µg/l or cfu per 100ml. SimplexHealth says the figures can be set against the UK drinking water guideline values and that it does not interpret them for you.
The accreditation needs reading carefully. The maker's footnote says its laboratory is UKAS-accredited, to ISO 17025, for coliform/E. coli, total viable count, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, enterococci and legionella analysis. That covers the bacteria line. The other eleven parameters come from the same laboratory but are not described as sitting inside that accredited scope, which matters if a figure ever has to be relied on formally.
On a private supply
The Drinking Water Inspectorate puts roughly 1% of people in England and Wales on a private supply. Under the Private Water Supplies (England) Regulations 2016 the council is the regulator, but for a supply serving one home with no commercial use it has to risk-assess and monitor only when the owner or occupier asks, and may charge. Contact the council and ask for that visit first; the DWI calls it your first point of contact for testing.
This panel fits the gap between those visits. Its parameters line up with the DWI's list of likely groundwater problems: nitrate from fertilisers, animal waste and sewage effluent; arsenic, fluoride, iron and manganese present in some groundwaters; faecal contamination from sewage and animal waste. One bottle covers one outlet, so a second tap means a second kit.
How it compares
The maker's 27-in-1 well and ground water suite adds lead, copper, zinc, aluminium, sodium, conductivity, turbidity and a total viable count on the same turnaround, but its published list has no arsenic, mercury or fluoride. If metals are the question, the Metals 10-in-1 Well & Ground Water test trades the bacteria, nitrate and anion readings for lead, cadmium, chromium, copper and boron. For a mains-fed home with pre-1970 pipework, the maker's lead-only laboratory test answers in 5 to 6 working days and is the analysis it sells as UKAS-certified.
Living with it
The kit holds a bottle, instructions, a return box, a pre-paid label and courier collection. Take and post the sample the same day, Monday to Thursday only, freezing any supplied ice packs the day before. SimplexHealth wants the sample back within seven weeks of ordering, does not refund an under-filled or wrongly collected bottle, and flags late samples as possibly compromised. Results are emailed 10 to 12 working days after the laboratory receives the bottle. It is UK-only, and customers in the Outer Hebrides, Isle of Wight, Isle of Man and Cornwall should check overnight return is available. Watersafe UK, which sells the same kit from the same Wollaston address, offers 21 days money back on unused goods, so decide before you open the box.
Reading the result
Set the figures against Schedule 1 of the private supplies regulations: E. coli and coliforms 0 per 100ml, nitrate 50 mg/l, arsenic 10 µg/l, mercury 1 µg/l, fluoride 1.5 mg/l, iron 200 µg/l, manganese 50 µg/l, chloride and sulphate 250 mg/l, pH 6.5 to 9.5. Hardness and magnesium have no prescribed value. If bacteria are detected, tell the council, which the DWI names as the first point of contact for identified risks, and boil drinking water until the supply is retested; our boil water notice guide covers the method. The DWI says private testing should use an accredited method and a trained person, a reason to treat a home-collected sample as screening rather than proof.
Our verdict
Buy it if you own or have just moved onto a well, borehole or spring and want a measured first picture of the supply, particularly where nitrate, arsenic or bacteria are the local worry, and you have asked the council for its visit too. Choose the 27-in-1 for lead and wider chemistry in one post, or the Metals 10-in-1 if metals are the whole question. Skip it on mains water: your supplier publishes results by postcode, and the useful question there is lead, which this kit cannot see. Our tap water guide explains why.
A researched review, built from the maker's specs, manual and UK listings; facts checked 21 Oct 2026. Sources: Watersafe UK — Water Suite 12-in-1 Well & Ground Water (Laboratory Test), product page (read 21 October 2026); SimplexHealth — Water Suite 12-in-1 Well & Ground Water (Laboratory Test), product page (read 21 October 2026); Watersafe UK — Water Suite 27-in-1 Well & Ground Water (Laboratory Test), parameter list (read 21 October 2026); Watersafe UK — Delivery and returns (read 21 October 2026); The Private Water Supplies (England) Regulations 2016, Schedule 1 — prescribed concentrations and values; The Private Water Supplies (England) Regulations 2016, regulation 6 — risk assessment (single dwellings on request); The Private Water Supplies (England) Regulations 2016, regulation 10 — monitoring of other private supplies; The Private Water Supplies (England) Regulations 2016, Schedule 5 — fees; Drinking Water Inspectorate — Private water supplies, consumer page (read 21 October 2026); Drinking Water Inspectorate — Possible risks and their sources (read 21 October 2026); Drinking Water Inspectorate — Water testing (read 21 October 2026).
Who shouldn't buy this
Don't buy it if you're on the mains supply — your water company already tests it to DWI standards, so a private-supply lab test tells you nothing new — or if lead from old pipework is your actual worry, since this particular 12-in-1 doesn't test for it.
This is a Researched review: we haven't used this product. We check every specification against at least two independent sources, re-check the UK price on a schedule where we can track it automatically, and say plainly who it isn't for. Commissions never change a rating.
If this isn’t the one
Best for Owners of a private well, borehole or spring wanting a broad lab panel with UKAS-accredited bacteria results, or buyers vetting a private supply before a house purchase.
Best for Homeowners with pre-1970 lead pipework, or anyone on a private supply (borehole, spring, well) who needs a definitive lead reading rather than an indicative guess.
Read the review →Best for Owners of a well, borehole or spring who need a genuine lab-verified metals reading, not a DIY indicator strip.
Questions
Does the Water Suite 12-in-1 test for lead?
No. The twelve parameters are arsenic, chloride, coliform/E. coli, fluoride, hardness, iron, magnesium, manganese, mercury, nitrate, pH and sulphate. SimplexHealth's 27-in-1 suite, its metals panels and its lead-only tests all include lead.
Is the Water Suite 12-in-1 UKAS accredited?
Partly. The maker says its laboratory holds UKAS accreditation to ISO 17025 for coliform/E. coli, total viable count, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, enterococci and legionella analysis, so the bacteria result is covered. The eleven chemistry parameters are not listed within that scope.
How long does the Water Suite 12-in-1 take?
SimplexHealth says results are emailed within 10 to 12 working days of the laboratory receiving the sample. Add free second-class delivery of the kit, quoted at 3 to 5 business days, and the courier return, and three to four weeks door to door is realistic.
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